I Need Help Buying Items For My Level 1 Team

[Bartmanhomer]

Hey everyone. It's yours truly once again. So anyway I need help to buy items for my Level 1 team. By the way, my Solo Game for being Players and DM is doing marvelously. So anyway my team happens to be the following:

A male lesser drow cleric of Eilistraee
A male gnome spellthief
A female elf wizard
A male dwarf warblade
A male human swordsage

All of them are in Level 1 and everybody has 1651 GP. Of course, I can upgrade weapons and armor but I know there are other useful items to buy besides weapons and armor. So can anybody just give me a solid and help me out, please? :smile:

[Vizzerdrix]

Shapesand. Piles and piles of shapesand!

Or, basic supplies. Everlasting rations, healing belt, water supply of some sort. Mounts. A few tree tokens.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Dragonfang weapons in the Draconomicon deal an extra 1 point of energy damage appropriate to the dragon type it's crafted from, they cost an extra 300 gp above masterwork weapon price.

A Dragonbone bow also from the Draconomicon gets +20 ft. range for 100 gp. It can be applied to a normal shortbow or longbow to make it count as a composite bow, so you're only paying 130 gp for a shortbow version or 175 gp for a longbow version, plus 100 gp per point of Str bonus on the composite bow.

Wand Chambers from Dungeonscape can be added to a weapon or shield for 100 gp, if you're holding the weapon or shield you can activate the wand it contains as though you're holding it. Great for immediate-action spells like Nerveskitter and Wings of Cover, or swift action attack spells like Wraithstrike or Rhino's Rush.

Elvencraft bows from Races of the Wild can be used as a club (shortbow) or a quarterstaff (longbow). It's an extra 300 gp, and each weapon portion must be upgraded to masterwork and enchanted separately. So an Elvencraft Composite Longbow that's Masterwork three times and has three Wand Chambers is 1,600 gp plus 100 gp per point of Str bonus permitted on the composite bow portion. You can add Dragonbone as well, of course.

A Masterwork Tool (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/goodsAndServices.htm#toolMasterwork) is 50 gp and gives you a +2 circumstance bonus on checks with the related skill.

A war-trained riding dog should only be 150 gp, and studded leather barding is 50 gp, they make amazing guard dogs and they're great for having an extra body on the battlefield.

NPC Spellcasting Services (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/goodsAndServices.htm#spell) is spell level x caster level x 10 gp, plus 5 gp per 1 xp and any costly material components. Hiring someone to cast Continual Flame on your hair should only be 110 gp, and you can put on a hat to block the effect. Continual Flame is a [Light] spell, so it can overcome a [Darkness] spell of lower level. So hire someone to cast a Continual Flame that's Heightened to a 9th level spell at a caster level of 20th for 1,800 gp, you'll automatically overcome Darkness and Deeper Darkness that's not Heightened to an equal level, and it never goes away unless successfully dispelled.

A mithral chain shirt is 1,100 gp. A mithral buckler is 1,015 gp and has no arcane spell failure chance and no armor check penalty, so there's not even any drawbacks for using it if you're not proficient. A darkwood heavy shield has no armor check penalty, so there's no drawback for not being proficient with that either.

Weapon and armor crystals in MIC are fairly cheap. A Restful Crystal is 500 gp and allows armor to be slept in. A Least Crystal of Adaptation is 500 gp and gives you a permanent Endure Elements. A Least Crystal of Arrow Deflection for a shield is 500 gp and gives you an extra +2 AC vs ranged attacks.

A wand of a 1st level spell at a caster level 1 is only 750 gp at 50 charges, or it's only 15 gp per charge remaining if partially charged. Remember per the Rules Compendium that any spell trigger (wand, staff) or spell completion (scroll) item takes the same action to activate as the spell being activated, so swift action and immediate action wands take that same action to use. A Wand of Camouflage lasts 10 minutes when used and gives a +10 bonus on Hide checks.

An Eternal Wand (MIC) of a 1st level spell is only 820 gp, and can be used twice per day by anyone capable of casting arcane spells, even if the contained spell isn't on their class spell list. There are some amazing spells that are exclusive to certain classes that can be used on an eternal wand, such as Hound of Doom (CW) or Glibness. You can also get spells at a lower level from an obscure class spell list, like putting Arcane Sight on one as a 1st level spell from the Trapsmith spell list, or Silence as a 1st level spell from the Court Herald list. Also keep in mind that an Eternal Wand isn't actually a wand, the activation method is command word which is always a standard action, even if the spell's casting time is longer. An eternal wand of a summon monster spell is a standard action, or Identify is only a standard action (but you're paying 50x the material component cost for an unlimited item that uses that). Swift and immediate action eternal wands are a standard action, so don't bother with those types of spells. Utility that stays useful forever like Benign Transposition or Command Undead are also good to put in these.

A Healing Belt in MIC is only 750 gp, everyone in the party should have one.

An Anklet of Translocation in MIC is only 1,400 gp, everyone should plan to get one of these as well.

An Amber Amulet of Vermin (MIC) is cheap and can be used to summon a creature once per day. The giant wasp can be used as a flying mount in a pinch.

A stack of fifty +1 Spell Storing Arrows is 8,302 gp, 5 sp, but just one such arrow is only 166 gp, 5 cp. Hire an NPC spellcaster to put something like (Lesser Rod of Maximized) Sound Lance (SC) into a few of those and you'll have a go-all-out shot that you hope hits. An Eternal Wand of True Strike can probably help with making sure that doesn't go to waste.

A Cloak of Elemental Protection in MIC is 1,000 gp, it gives you resistance 10 to an energy type of your choice as an immediate action for one round, 1/day.

[Curelomosaurus]

A masterwork dastana and chahar'aina (oriental adventures) each give +1 AC that stack with each other and with a chain shirt for only 350 gp IIRC.

Extra daggers are always nice.

Silent shoes are 10 gp for +1 move silently.

Caltrops and marbles for battlefield control.

A sprayer (Arms and Equipment guide) turns any liquid into a 5x10 area effect.

Aboleth mucus is 20 gp, and whoever it hits must make a DC 19 Fortitude save or lose the ability to breathe. Great at low levels, especially in a sprayer.

Dust eggshell grenades auto-blind whoever they hit, no save, and cost 10 gp.